Thursday, July 7, 2011

No-Fuss Focaccia


I love looking at the fresh baked breads in the bakery section of the grocery store. French bread, ciabatta bread, shepherder's bread, they all look so good. But, the one that especially calls out to me is the focaccia bread. How can you possibly resist something that looks like a pizza?



Well, difficult though it may be, I do resist after seeing the $4 price tag on it. How can something made out of flour, water, yeast, and a little olive oil possibly cost so much? Wait a minute. I have all those ingredients at home. Surely I could make my own, right? Thanks to the King Arthur Flour site, I found out that anyone can make focaccia. In fact, it's so quick and easy that the recipe is called, "Blitz Bread or No-Fuss Focaccia."


All you have to do is mix up your ingredients and put the dough into a baking pan with a little olive oil in it. Let it rise, drizzle with a little more oil, season to your liking, and bake. That's it. No "secret" ingredients or complicated techniques. Soon, you'll be taking a gorgeous loaf of focaccia out of your oven and wondering why you've never done this before.

The finished focaccia was so good. It was fluffy and flavorful and every bit as good as anything from the grocery store, even better because it was fresh. This may have been my first focaccia but it most certainly will not be my last.


No-Fuss Focaccia (aka Blitz Bread)
- adapted from King Arthur Flour

3/4 c. warm water
1 Tbsp. olive oil (plus additional for drizzling)
5/8 tsp. salt
1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. active dry yeast
2 tsp. sugar
2 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 tomato, de-seeded and sliced

Combine the warm water with the active dry yeast and the 2 tsp. sugar. Let stand until foamy, about 5-10 min.

Add the flour and salt gradually to the yeast mixture, about 1/2 cup at a time, until your dough no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl (the dough will be very soft).

Drizzle 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil into a 9-inch round cake pan. Place the dough into the pan. Cover and let rise for 60 min., till it's become puffy. (Note: the risen dough will be super sticky so make sure that whatever you use to cover it will not touch the dough by the end of the hour or you can grease the plastic wrap) While the dough is rising, preheat your oven to 375F. Gently poke the risen dough all over with your index finger. Drizzle it lightly with the remaining olive oil and sprinkle with Italian seasoning. Top with the tomato slices. Bake the bread till it's golden brown, about 35-40 min.

Notes:
  • The recipe as written here is for a half batch. If you bake the full batch, KAF directs you to make it in a 9x13 pan.
  • I adapted this recipe so that it could be made without a stand mixer and using active dry yeast instead of instant yeast.
  • My gas oven doesn't brown bread at all, so I baked mine for about 32 min., then put it under the broiler for 2 min. It browned up beautifully. If you do this, make sure you watch it well because you don't want it to go from browned to burnt.
This recipe is linked to:
Full Plate Thursday
These Chicks Cooked
Made it on Monday
Fat Camp Friday
Fresh Food Friday

26 comments:

  1. I haven't made this in a while, think I'll add it to the list:@)

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  2. I'm going to make this as soon as my tomatoes are ready to pick! It looks so good=)

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  3. Parece muito fácil, vou fazer hoje mesmo!!! ( =

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  4. Yummy yum... loved it:)
    Reva

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  5. Focaccia with no fuss?! This is right up my alley because for some reason this bread intimidates me and I would LOVE to make it. It's bookmarked for my to-do list!! Hooray!

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  6. I made this exact recipe when I decided to make this bread. It is so good. I use King Arthur's flour only and it is the best. Thanks for sharing. We have a wonderful mango salsa today. Come over and visit.

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  7. No way! Focaccia in less than 2 hours? I know what I'm making for dinner tonight :) Sounds awesome I love King Arthur flour recipes :) Thanks for posting this one. Your bread looks amazing, I can't wait to make a loaf myself!!!!

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  8. I love focaccia bread the best. Seeing your loaf had me daydreaming about using this for a turkey sandwich with some avocado. Yummy!

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  9. This is really lovely! I made this twice a couple of weeks ago, and these are amazing. I had them plain with a cup of tea the first time and the second time when I made this again (the very next day, actually!), we had it dipped in mushroom soup! Yummy!

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  10. I've been dying to make my own focaccia and I love that this one is "no-fuss." It looks beautiful, too!

    Sues

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  11. This looks so flipping good! I want it now!

    Thanks for sharing it with the rest of us!

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  12. Lisa, the past couple of days I've been thinking about trying my hand at focaccia. First the lady fingers and now this. I'm glad to hear u got great results with both. Can't wait to try it!

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  13. Oh how I love bread! This looks so delicious! YUM!! I need to make a batch.

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  14. I love making focaccia, but this one sounds way easier and quicker and it sure looks light and delicious for such a quickie! I am like you, I am always so tempted by the focaccia too! I do love the homemade one though and now to be able to whip it up fast - super yum Lisa!

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  15. Lisa a tua focaccia tá irresistível mesmo!!!
    Focaccia é tudo de bom!
    Tenha um ótimo final de semana!

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  16. I've never tried to make focaccia ~ always a tad scared that it would be a flop. I think it's time to get over my fear and give this a try!

    Jo

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  17. Looks beautiful!!! And yeah...hard to resist anything that looks like a pizza! :) It would also be good to spread some pesto on the dough before adding the tomatoes...either that or add some fresh basil. It's nice when a recipe is so versatile that we can add or subtract one or two toppings to make something the same yet different! Nice job on your bread!! :)

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  18. This looks so good. I've been wanting to make Focaccia. I might be taking this recipe to try out :)

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  19. Oh what a wonderful recipe! I love that it is no fuss.

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  20. I love it, your focaccia looks great! Thanks for linking to Fat Camp Friday, enjoy your weekend and see you next time! http://bit.ly/mTxy7l

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  21. I've been making various focaccia breads too. Yours looks delicious with those beautiful tomatoes on top.

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  22. Thanks for showing me the link up. I'm following and hope to link up again sometime.

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  23. شكرا لكم على المقالة المفيد
    شركة نقل اثاث ولدينا عمالة مدربة على فك وتركيب وتغليف الاثاث لضمان وصوله بامان
    شركة نقل اثاث
    شركات نقل اثاث
    شركة نقل أثاث
    ونش رفع الاثاث
    ونش رفع عفش
    شركة نقل عفش
    شركة نقل اثاث
    نقل عفش

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